Sachusetts



GEORGE C. WICHESTER AND MARTIN V. HOWE, OF ASHBURNHAM, MAS SACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO. G. & G. O. WIN CHESTER, OE SAME PLACE.l

Letters .Patent Na. 60,978, dated January 1, 1867.

' IMPROVBMBNT IN oHAIRs.,

W18 ttthnlr nftrnh ts in flgest htters atmt :mt making ;ma the same,

To ALL wHoM Ii: MA'Y ooNcEnNz Be it known that we, GEORGE 0.'W1Ncnnsrnn and MARTIN V. B. Hown, all of Ashburnham, in the county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an vimproved Chair; and we'do hereby declnrc that the following, taken in connection With the drawings, which accompany .and form part of this speciz'ication, is a description of our invention suiiioient Ito enable those skilled in tlre art to practi-se it.

The invention relates principally to the construction of that class of rocking-chairsjn which the' seat alone is madepcapable of. rocking` movement, the stool upon which the seat isrmonnted being` stationary, as in the common Chair; and the invention consists in the manner of connecting the seat with the stool with reference to its provision for rocking, and in the mechanism by which the seat is looked in 'horizontal position to constitute a common chair, or in tipped position to form a reclining chair; also in formin'g the rear legT and top side rail of a chair' of one piece of bent Wood. z

I The drawings represent a chair embodying, the invention, A showing` a front, andB a seotio'nal cl'evaton of the same. p ,v

a denotcs a stationary stool,ico mposed of the' leg s, top rails, and crcss-bars or stretchers. 5 is the seat,l supported on the frame by short lcg or feet, o 1d, the rear ones, d, of which rest and play at their lower cnds in bearings made in uprights e, iixed on the rear of the top rails f. A. section through one of the uprights is-seen at C, it being composed of a `screw spindle, g, fastened'upon the top rail, (said spindle having a cup or socket; in its upper end,) and a cap or cylinder, k, to 'screw over' or down upon the spindle. The foot chas a ball or enlargement at its lower end, which rests in the .socket ou the serew, the spindlc formng, with the socket in the spindle, a ball-and-socket joint, the shank of the foot e-xtendng` through a slot in the cap T., the foot boingheld down upon the upright by said cap, the 'hole through the top of which is such asto permit the foot d' to swing backwards and forwards in the direction in |which the rocking movement of the sent takes place. Thcltwo uprights e, and feet d, so constructed and arranged, form together a compound hinge or joint, upon which the rocking mt'fement is effected, and by which this movenrent can only take place in a' bzml'nwmrd and forward, and.-

not'in a lateral, direction. t Will be o'bvious that the ball-and-socket joints, constructed substnutially as describefl, have functions beyond those of simple hinges, i-nasmuch as by scrcwin; dom'n tfl'lc-onps thci'cof' any looseness of the parts can bc taken up, and thus noises and irregular movoments will bo prevented; fix-'then more, by nnscrewing the caps of the 'ball-and-socket joints, the two parts of the cln'tir, its top/and boso-, can bcsundered without use of tools, for convenience in packing and transportation. To keep the' seat. in its norinali orvhorizontal position When not being used, and to aid in bringing it back whcn'tipped np by thesittei', az spring, i.. is fastened to a cross-bar, c, and cxtcnds upward and baclwarrlf, so that its end bcars :against th'enndcn' surface 'of the rear side of the seat with Stress enough to keep the seat in position 'when not being, used, and' with such force beyond that as may be desirable.

In a chair of this kind it is desirable to be able to constitute the chair at will into' an ordinary stationary seat, or one incapablc of rocling movement, and thisI effect as follows ratchet or toovtlrccl bar, sr, errtcnds from the front rail of the seat down through a slot in a plate, Z, formed by the front end of' the spring i, (which.

Projects out from the bar 7c,) or in a plate 'astcned to' and projecting from said bzu' lc. The tecth of the rntchet` bar are keptnormally out of connection with the plate or pawl, or by the spring of the bar, (or may bc so lccpt,

by a separate-spring or by gravity.) Below the plate lis a horizo'ntal shaft, m, hung in bearings below the top rails of the frame; and on this shaft is a cam, n, which, by turning the shaft', forccs the upper tocth of the ratchet under the plate, and looks the seat to the frame, ahcad, o, being fixcd on the cud of the slinft, so that the sitter can reach and turn the shaft when desirable. By the same means, the seat may bo lochcil iu tilt'ed position, as seen at B, the cam forcing the lower tooth of the ratchet over the powi-plate at the inner endmf the slot, and by holding it there, maintnining the seat in tilted position and through the intermediate tccth of the ratchet the seat may be fixed in Whatever inclined position may be desired. Each rear leg, p, is fcrmedfroni an extension of the adjaccnt -top rail 0r,`in other words, a strip of wood is bent into shapc to form the said leg and rail without any piccing. This construction is cheaper, strouger, and moro ornainental in'appearance than a construction in which scparate picces of wood are 'joined together to form reepcctively the log and rail.

We do not eleim broatdly a, roeking seat applied to 8, stationary frame, as such an ai'mngement has been in use for many years; nox` do We elaim broadly a means for looking such a seat in horizontal or nclin'ed position, as this per 8a is not new. We elaim- Combining the seat a with 'the stationsry stool or base b by means of baILzmd-soeket joints, arrangednot onlyr to .act as hinges but otherwise, substantially as deseribed.

Also, eombining with such arrangement oi construction the spring z', .fixed to the bar, and beajring against the rear part of the seat, substantially as shown and descrihed.

Also, the combining of the ratchet-bar, pawl-plate, shaft, and cam, When arrangerl to lock the seat in horizontel or inclined position,4 substontielly as set forth.

Also, ferming each side mil f and its leg p from a. single strip of Wood bent into shape', substantislly its shown and deseribed. I

GEO. C. WINCHESTER,

MARTIN V. B. HOWE.

Witnesses:

JERoMn W. FosTnIc, GEORGE W. EDDY. 

